Acts 17:26-27
God is Near Us
26 From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27 God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
Exodus 14:1-31
The Miracle of the Parting of the Sea
1 Then the LORD said to Moses, 2 "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' 4 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this.
5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, "What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!" 6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly. 9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh's horses and chariots, horsemen and troops—pursued the Israelites and overtook them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. 11 They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
13 Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."
15 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen."
19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the LORD looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He made the wheels of their chariots come off so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, "Let's get away from the Israelites! The LORD is fighting for them against Egypt."
26 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen." 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
29 But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the LORD saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Exodus 16:1-36
Manna and Quail
The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, 7 and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?” 8 Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”
9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”
10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’”
13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was.
Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”
17 The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. 18 And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed.
19 Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.”
20 However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them.
21 Each morning everyone gathered as much as they needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. 22 On the sixth day, they gathered twice as much—two omers for each person—and the leaders of the community came and reported this to Moses. 23 He said to them, “This is what the Lord commanded: ‘Tomorrow is to be a day of sabbath rest, a holy sabbath to the Lord. So bake what you want to bake and boil what you want to boil. Save whatever is left and keep it until morning.’”
24 So they saved it until morning, as Moses commanded, and it did not stink or get maggots in it.25 “Eat it today,” Moses said, “because today is a sabbath to the Lord. You will not find any of it on the ground today. 26 Six days you are to gather it, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, there will not be any.”
27 Nevertheless, some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather it, but they found none.28 Then the Lord said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commands and my instructions? 29 Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where they are on the seventh day; no one is to go out.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
31 The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Take an omer of manna and keep it for the generations to come, so they can see the bread I gave you to eat in the wilderness when I brought you out of Egypt.’”
33 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.”
34 As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.
36 (An omer is one-tenth of an ephah.)
St. Paul says that God is always near us...And at no time in the history of mankind was He as close and as when God freed His people from the Pharaoh and the country of Egypt...God wants to be near us, and He wants us to reach out to us...And St. Paul goes on to tell us that perhaps, we will reach out for him and find him...But when we finally find Him, what will we do, and how will we act...
If you felt that God was very near you and you felt His Presence would you be in a good mood?...Would it make you feel good, if you actually knew He was always not far from you?...Would you be positive?...If God was at your right hand, helping you get through much of the day, if not all of it, would you grumble and complain?...I used to think that if God was always with us or at least with me, I would not complain (about much, if anything)...But maybe I am wrong about this...After our fall from grace and left the Garden, it maybe in our very nature to complain and to grumble about things even though God is near us and even though we know He if with us...In our minds, there is always somewhere or someone or something else -we could be, or be with, or be doing -that would make us happier...Or so we think...
Moses and God's people wandered the desert for forty years...God was with them...He did many, many miracles for His people...This was a time in history where God did more miracles for any one group of same people, and the most witnessed miracles ever to happen by our Father in Heaven...Yet, the people seeing all these miracles grumbled and complained...After they had been saved by God and had left being slaves and left Egypt, they were now free...However, Pharaoh changed heart and decided to go after God's people...When God's people were surrounded by soldiers and water, they said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?...What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?...Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'?...It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!" ...
The Hebrew people had the LORD with them, and He had done many miracles convincing Pharaoh to let His people go and they were set free...Yet, that wasn't quite enough...They still complained and grumbled, even though the most Almighty of All Entities was with them...And when they got tired and hungry again they grumbled and complained...Moses heard the grumblings...So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him... Who are we, that you should grumble against us?”...Moses also said, “You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him...Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.”...
The people had been saved out of the bondage from Egypt...The LORD was taking them to the Promised Land...And yet, with God right at their side -the people complained...He was with them, and they could witness all His miracles, and yet that was not enough...Again, I think it is in our very nature to be looking for something else...Humanity seems to think that there is another different and distant place, or another mindset, or someone else where and who we can be and be with and then (and only then) will we be happy...After the Hebrew people left Egypt (and were rescued by God) tells us much about human nature and how man behaves, even when God's Presence is right there near us...Mankind is inconsistent, changing, and flawed...Did the Hebrew people really want to go back to Egypt?... When we are tired, troubled, frustrated, upset, in need of help -we need to not only turn to God, but trust in Him...
When God is right there with us, let us realize that He is the Living God and is near us...We must learn to trust God and stop our complaints and grumbling...I think the attitudes of the travelers of the desert to their home, is still in the attitudes of us today...Our minds seem to drift from God, even though He is always near us, and He has sent us the Holy Spirit...God gives us a choice...We choose the attitude we have, each and every day, actually each and every moment...The more we trust and believe in God, the better our attitude, as well as our faith...And let us remember, even a large number of eyewitness to miracles did nothing for the attitude of the ones grumbling and complaining...Miracles are not always, the answer to our prayers or our faith...Our changing minds and moods look ahead, to the next thing and drift from God...His miracles only stopped the grumbling for a short period of time...One miracle was not enough...Neither was two...Neither was ten...God had done ten plague miracles before His people left Egypt, and they quickly seemed to forget about those miracles...
We sometimes seem to want a miracle or two to get us better through life, or to increase our faith...But two and even three may not be enough, as we go looking for miracles...
What is so great about this story is that God allows us to complain (even) as He is helping us...And He Loves us like only a Great Father could...The Almighty One, who was with sinners and complainers each and everyday for forty years in the desert...Today, He remains steadfast and near to us...He is still near to His sinners and complainers...Complaint after complaint, grumble after grumble -He Loves us...He takes His people to the Promised Land of Israel and they will make their new home there...And if we believe in Him and His Son, His grace and His LOVE will take us to heaven...